Crowes Pasture farmer offers $1,000 for info on oyster thieves

EAST DENNIS – Trays stolen from offshore oyster grants over the last month have begun washing up on beaches in Brewster and Eastham, the only evidence left by oyster thieves who have repeatedly struck the tidal flats off Crowes Pasture this summer.

EAST DENNIS – Trays stolen from offshore oyster grants over the last month have begun washing up on beaches in Brewster and Eastham, the only evidence left by oyster thieves who have repeatedly struck the tidal flats off Crowes Pasture this summer.

More than $40,000 in oysters and equipment has been stolen to date, prompting one Crowes Pasture farmer to offer a $1,000 reward for information leading authorities to the poachers.

While his two grants are not among those hit this summer, John Lowell is eager to put an end to the worst spate of thefts Crowes Pasture has ever experienced.

“I'm sure some of the other oyster farmers will pitch in, but even if they don't, I'm offering the reward,” Lowell said. “I'm hoping it will pique someone's interest.”

The thieves know a great deal about oyster farms and appear to be confident, Lowell said. They even stopped to eat about a dozen oysters while robbing the flats in mid-June. “These individuals are extremely brazen,” he said.

Lowell, also a licensed oyster wholesaler, believes another wholesaler is involved in the thefts, helping to move the stolen product quickly.

He's not alone. Wellfleet oyster farmer and wholesaler Robert Wallace, who is president of the Massachusetts Aquaculture Association, agreed.

“You've got to document where the oysters come from,” Wallace said. “Somebody has got to be fudging the paperwork.”

James Ward, who lost 12,000 mature oysters and 40 trays to the thieves last week, said nine trays have since turned up on beaches in Eastham. He hopes more trays, which cost $30 each, will wash up.

Anyone finding trays may call the Dennis Police Department, and Ward will happily drive out to pick them up.

Todd Boyle was one of three farmers in Crowes Pasture to lose oysters and equipment on June 15. Three of Boyle's trays have since washed up in Brewster.

The thieves wiped him out for the season, Boyle said. “I had put all my mature oysters in one place.”

Meanwhile, theories abound among farmers. Several grant holders believe the thieves come by truck since their hauls are too large to simply carry away.

Aaron Brochu, who lost about 10,000 oysters from his two grants Tuesday, said he found truck tire tracks and footprints near his Crowes Pasture grant.

“We were out there at 4:50 that morning,” said Brochu, who operates at the Big Rock Oyster Co. “With the tide, that means (the thieves) had to come between 3 and 4:50 a.m.”

Boyle and Lowell, on the other hand, believe the poachers come by boat.

“They could have a work boat and use a Zodiac or flat bottom skiff to go back and forth,” Boyle said.

Boyle admits there are problems with his theory. “This is the first time we've had somebody out there who steals in a methodical way, but I can't see a commercial fisherman doing this for a few thousand dollars,” he said. “There are guys that might take a shot at you if they catch you out there screwing around.”

Lowell said he and others set up game cameras, with infrared capability and motion activation, along the only access road to the flats. “There was no activity, and they couldn't have all malfunctioned,” he said.

While the oyster farmers are frustrated that the thieves remain at large, Lowell stressed he wants the authorities to handle the investigation.

Anyone who has information and is interested in the reward should contact the Dennis police, Lowell said.